Light beams may be used to measure distances between objects. By way of example, a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system is an active remote sensing system that can use light beams to obtain the range, i.e., distance, from a source to one or more points on a target. A LIDAR system uses a light beam (typically a laser beam) to illuminate at least a portion of the target and measures the time it takes for the emitted light beam from the source to arrive at the target and then return to a detector near the source or at a known location. In other words, the range from the source to the point on the target can be determined based on the time-of-flight (ToF) of the light beam from the source to the detector. To measure ranges to multiple points on a target or in a field-of-view of the LIDAR system, the laser beam is usually scanned in one or two dimensions. In various implementations of the LIDAR system, it is desirable to determine the position of a LIDAR beam at the transmitter of the LIDAR system in order to determine the position of the LIDAR beam at the target at a given time.